Moore: While backing Jason Garrett, Jerry Jones says team has learned from lean times

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Vernon Bryant/Staff Photographer

Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett talks to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones right before leaving the press conference to attend a team meeting during the annual state of the Cowboys news conference at training camp in Oxnard, California on July 20, 2013.

OXNARD, Calif. — Jerry Jones made his way through
Saturday’s opening news conference without uttering the phrase “glory hole.”

The Cowboys owner did toss out an “Armageddon” and a reference to burned
ships, and he made it clear that it’s time for the team to get going.

“This off-season has been filled with a lot of talk,” said Jones, who carried
his share of the load. “It’s now time to get down to business.”

Training camp is under way. While Jones was his usual, optimistic self to
kick things off, the mediocrity of recent years has had a sobering effect.

It’s impossible to ignore or gloss over a three-year absence from the
playoffs. Jones acknowledged those recent disappointments and addressed Jason
Garrett’s job security. Moments before he came outside to answer the media’s
questions, he watched tape of the team’s Thanksgiving Day loss to
Washington.

That will put a damper on any Cowboys function.

“One of the many things that has inspired me about football was how much time
you had being disappointed relative to the actual time on the clock that you had
being elated or excited,” Jones said. “Those were disappointing times,
especially, especially there a couple of those years when we had a healthy
[Tony] Romo.

“But, again, one of the things we’ve done is really look at every aspect of
these past three years and learned from them. We’ve looked at how other teams
have gotten there and the circumstances.”

The Cowboys are 22-26 over the last three seasons. It’s been worse. The team
was 15-33 during the Dave Campo years.

Here’s the difference: Jones knew those would be lean years as he cleaned up
the team’s salary-cap issues and groped to find Troy Aikman’s replacement. Romo
was in place back in 2010, and the team was coming off a division title and
playoff victory.

Expectations were justifiably low from 2000-02. The same can’t be said for
the last three seasons. Jones’ frustration was evident in recent months as he
spoke of making life uncomfortable around Valley Ranch.

No one appeared to be in a more uncomfortable position than Garrett. But when
asked if it was fair to say this is a win-or-else season for his head coach,
Jones had this reply.

“Well, I wouldn’t use the word ‘fair,’” he said. “It’s a mistake. That’s not
right. …

“To answer your question specifically, one of the neatest things about not
only this year but a positive about this year is that if you’re in close here,
you see how Jason is responding to obviously unsatisfactory times. And I can
tell you firsthand, that’s impressive.

“I look to the future with Jason … It is not what is implied when you say,
‘Well, this is an Armageddon year for him.’ It is not that with me.”

It can be argued the 8-8 record of the last two seasons doesn’t reflect the
positive developments under Garrett. A culture of accountability has taken root.
Only 17 players in this camp were on the roster when he took over for Wade
Phillips midway through the 2010 season.

This has been a time of transition. Still, the team played for the NFC East
title in the final game of the regular season the last two years.

“The great challenge in the National Football League is as you are kind of
retooling and trying to build something, you have to be competitive,” Garrett
said. “We feel good about the decisions we made from a personnel standpoint the
last couple of years.”

It was the opening news conference of last year’s camp when Jones, showing
his background in the oil and gas industry, talked about wanting his team to
find the “glory hole” once more.

On Saturday, he opted for a military term. Jones spoke about burning the
ships.

That means there is no turning back. The Cowboys either conquer their
opponents going forward or fail again.

“I think all it’s done for right now, for right here, is inspire me on a
personal basis and us to do everything we can possibly do,” Jones said. “And to
do it as good as we can do it.”

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